As I Lay Dying @ The Venue Scottsdale

If you were to base what you know about teenagers on the misunderstood, black-clad fans of As I Lay Dying, you might think that underneath every angst-y, tattoo-covered teen exists the soul of a good Christian kid. Not so. These fans are a special breed. They reappropriated the devilish look of bikers and Marilyn Manson fans and turned it into something entirely harmless, even if As I Lay Dying's music sounds as though it comes from the bowels of Hell. But these guys are Christian crusaders, in their own way. They scream out the hate-filled metalcore that lies within all of us, leaving nothing behind but bunnies, chocolate, and rainbows. Though the band's members are, in fact, Christian, they're not entirely sure whether As I Lay Dying is a Christian band. But take a look at some of their lyrics, which deal with Christian themes ("The contingencies of a day unravel my senses / And now your distance is darkness / My hope has been beset by your absence / I decay from inside / Underneath it all there is still life / Despite it all there is still love") and consider it a helpful bit of gospel, as conveyed by the devil's music.